


sacrificial lambs

by orphan_account



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, F/F, F/M, Femslash, Heavy Angst, Like No Comfort, M/M, Quarter Quell, also death, hurt and not a lot of comfort, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-06 15:06:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16389983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: It's been 75 years since the deadly Second Rebellion, where terrorists disrupted the 75th Hunger Games and tried to overthrow the Capitol. They were crushed, and now, the Hunger Games still reign. And this year, it's Quarter Quell time.





	1. one

It was the day before the Reaping, and Christine delivering one last shipment before being sent back home.

She rode her bike, which towed three platforms on which crates of newly harvested food were secured. Straight from District 6. Transportation. It was oddly new, as well. She'd had it for a year, and she loved it. Before the bike, she'd had to push large carts of crates. It was slow, rough going on the rocky dirt roads, and she'd been hurt by falling crates more than once.

Another thing she loved about the bike, it had the word 'forever' engraved into the bright yellow paint. It was obviously written by kid, probably reaping age. Maybe it was the name of the person, or the factory that had made it.

But now was not the time to be wondering about the bike. While it'd be nice to have a distraction, it was the time of year where every child from age twelve to age seventeen was going over a strategy if they were chosen for the games.

As Christine went over what she remembered about the 69th Games, the nutrition distribution centre came into view up the road, and her attention went into making sure the right crates went to the right places.

-

The next day. Reaping day.

It would be the 150th Hunger Games, a Quarter Quell. President Maver had yet to announce the year's twist, so everyone was on edge as they dressed and went to catch the train to District Centre, a two-hour ride.

She held the hand of her little brother, Sam, as they stepped onto the already crowded train. Her family was large, with twelve kids, nine of whom were reaping age, including her, so they paired off every year to find seats individually.

While most families liked having the train ride to go over with their children what to do if they were chosen and have family time, hers as well as several other families didn't want to feel the pain of being together during what could be their final moments, and have family time only if their children were safe once more.

Besides, Christine used to have two older siblings in addition to six other older siblings. Irene and Char. She had been born three days before the day Irene was reaped, but she was six when Char had been reaped. Char was her favourite older sister, her protector, her favourite person.

She was the one who taught Christine how to braid her hair, introduced her to the rich yet small and generally empty library, and Char was the one who had started the children of the district doing the plays and musicals from the books in the library at the town common house. Christine had been in every play.

When Char was reaped, Christine had broken free of her mother and run up to cling to Char's leg, begging her not to go. Peacekeepers and her father had torn them apart, and Christine was whipped. Seven lashes. She still had the scars.

Char had fought hard for her life, but was ultimately was killed by a tribute from eight. That tribute had been killed not two days later, though, so it's not as if the winner was the person who had killed her sister. That title had gone to the girl tribute from ten. Janna Pilger.

So you could understand why her parents preferred to not be with their children on the train.

Christine found a spot on a bench seat up on the second level and climbed up, holding Sam on her lap.

The second level of seating was really just a bunch of seats above seats on the first level, with no ceiling separating them. As such, if you sat on the first level, you got a lot of legs on your face. The only way to get up to the second level were the ladders on the sides of bench seats, of which there were usually two per car, stretching the entire length of the car, but Christine had seen fancier trains where there were steps rather than ladders, and the entire second floor were back-to-back car length benches. You climbed over the backs to find spare seats.

As more and more people boarded the train at each stop, Christine kept Sam occupied as best she could, playing Tic Tac Toe on the back of a couple order sheets she'd kept. Usually, the order sheets were useless once the people at the nutrition department had seen and scanned them, so she and other deliverers kept them and used them to feed their stoves in the winter. But Christine always set aside a couple to keep whatever sibling she was assigned for the train ride occupied. Last year with Haven she'd taught him how to fold complicated animals, like the mules that pulled larger carts of food, mockingjays, and pregnant field mice.

This year, it was Tic Tac Toe, but unlike last year, she wasn't with another who might be reaped. Sam was only four, so she was more keeping him from a meltdown from boredom than a panic attack. And keeping herself from that panic attack, too.

Finally, they reached District Centre, and made their way to the reaping arena on their own, without waiting for the rest of the family, as was family protocol. Once inside, she handed Sam off with one last hug to the non-eligible adults who took care of the small children during the reaping, in a small playroom under the arena.

On her own now, Christine followed signs to the area where all the sixteen year old girls sat, and found a seat next to a girl at school whom she'd never really talked to.

After staring at the sun for what seemed like an eternity, she finally had something else to stare at: The district escort, a Capitol lady named Desdemona, this year sporting long green hair in a skintight, skimpy outfit that was basically a couple strings, barely covering the parts of her hot pink and blue dotted skin that needed to be covered up, and not much else.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the reaping for the 150th Hunger Games!" She said cheerfully, contrasting to the gloomy and scared emotions hopping around the arena like a plague.

"Now, as you're all aware, this year is a Quarter Quell, but the twist hasn't yet been announced! Well, I have the official announcement video, just recorded last night, from President Maver!"

Desdemona pointed a pencil-thin wand with a large sphere on the tip at the projection screen, and the thin, pointy President Maver appeared.

Christine could hardly bear to listen, but as it turned out, there were only family names in the balls. If the family's name was chosen, the parents were escorted to the centre of the arena and had one minute to pick one of their children to be reaped. Gender was irrelevant.

And four families would be chosen, and since there were thirteen districts, there would be fifty tributes.

The first two families were Telgeimer and Carroll, sub-districts G-7 and T-90 respectively, people she didn't know, nominating their eldest children. Robin Telgiemer and Rei Carroll. Robin was seventeen, Rei fourteen.

And then, Christine felt her heart stop as Desdemona read the third name.

"The Canigula family, sub-district K-19!"

Her heart didn't begin to beat again as she saw her parents, obviously already distraught, handed a list of their children, and a clock was set and begun for one minute.

During that minute, the girl next to her grabbed her hand and squeezed it, and Christine smiled weakly but thankfully.

It seemed only ten seconds passed before the timer went off.

"Juliana and Will Canigula, which of your children will be heading to the Games?" Desdemona chirped.

Her mother stepped up to a microphone, and her deep, tear-choked breath was heard throughout the arena. Finally, she opened her cracked lips and spoke.

"Christine."

If her heart had been beating, it surely would've stopped here.

A girl behind her grabbed her shoulder when she pitched forward, and Christine quickly regained her composure and shakily stood, smiling sadly at the two girls who'd supported her, before walking across the aisle, down the steps, and across the stage till she reached her mother, hugging her tightly.

"I'm so sorry," her mom whispered, squeezing her tightly.

"It's alright," Christine whispered back, before pulling away and repeating it with her father. After that, she stepped into line next to Rei.

"Wonderful! Now, one more family!" Desdemonia stuck her repulsively long purple fingernails into the glass ball and pulling out one more slip of paper. "The Briggs family, sub-district O-9!"

Another family she didn't know came up, and their list was very short, having only two children. One of them was a toddler, so they instantly chose their twelve year old boy, Konrad.

Once Konrad had hugged his mothers, he joined the others in line, and they all stood, supporting themselves as they stood before the district, before the parents who'd betrayed them.

Finally, though, Peacekeepers came in and silently escorted them to the tribute train.

The last glimpse of District Eleven Christine had was as the orchards and fields slipped away as the train roared away from the station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ everyone who's requested smth - don't worry I'm gonna do those now I just had to get this first chapter out of my system
> 
> for my future reference, here's a list of the canigula children. note that christine is the eldest still living in her parent's home, all the kids moved out at 17 1/2 if possible
> 
> William - age 32
> 
> Irene - would be age 31 but died at 15, 134th games
> 
> Yolanda - age 21
> 
> Marie - age 19
> 
> Charlie - would be 24 but died at 14, marie's twin, 140th games 
> 
> George - age 18
> 
> Liam - age 18 
> 
> Noah - age 18 (george, liam, and noah were triplets)
> 
> Christine - age 16
> 
> Haven - age 13
> 
> Samantha - age 9 
> 
> Andrea - age 7
> 
> Sam - age 4 
> 
> Daren - age 2
> 
> Piper (nicknamed Peaches) - age 3 months


	2. two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was nothing to be done now, nothing to do but to talk to her mentors about strategy in the Capitol, which is what she did. 
> 
> Or, well, tried to.

The tribute train was lushly furnished, with soft couches, grand tables, and curtains over unopenable windows, yet the gloom and anticipation of death hung heavy in the air, and nothing Desdemona could do would shoo it away.

It seemed wasted, too, to give fifty kids who would be dead in two weeks all this luxury, but Christine decided to try to enjoy it while she could.

That meant discarding her worn brown reaping dress for a long pale pink shirt and black leggings, but she kept her good boots. She took a shower before all that, basking in the wonderment of the buttons, the soaps, perfumes, the different spray options.

Finally, though, she stepped out, dressed, and headed to the dining car, where Robin, Rei, Desdemona, and Konrad already sat, along with Haellen Barrett and Grey Rivera. Haellen had won over twenty years ago, in the 127th Games, and Grey had won in the 143rd Games. Otherwise, there were only two other surviving District 11 tributes, Ola Kattal, who'd won in the 88th Games at thirteen and was slowly dying, and Quenna Ahaj, who'd won the 103rd Games and had succumbed to beer and spirits.

"Eat up, Christine, we'll be arriving in the Capitol tomorrow," Desdemona instructed firmly.

So, she ate. A couple rolls and a bowl of something called spaghetti, before promptly retiring to the sitting room to watch the replay of the reapings.

District 1 nominated three large, muscled children, but one family put in a small twelve year old girl with no muscle, who cried as she was taken away. Obviously, she was either their only child or a family outcast.

Districts 2 and 4 did virtually the same, minus the small girl, District 3 put forth all girls, two of whom held hands religiously.

Districts 3 and 5 were where the tears, the true pain, really began, and continued through District 13. She looked small, emotional, and betrayed on television.

But, there was nothing to be done now, nothing to do but to talk to her mentors about strategy in the Capitol, which is what she did. Or, well, tried to do. Haellen was talking to Konrad, and Grey was asleep.

So what else could she do but go to sleep herself?

-

The next morning, she realised it'd been just over 24 hours now since she'd woken up, back at home, helped her little sister Piper get dressed, took Sam by the hand, and walked to the train station.

  
And yet, it seemed like an eternity.

She picked out a forest green shirt with identical leggings to yesterday's and started the day off with coffee and muffins, before the train pulled into the Capitol. Konrad and Rei gazed out the windows, but Christine couldn't bear to look out there. What was the point? Seeing the home of the people who were putting her in a fight to the death.

Peacekeepers escorted them into a tall, twisty building that seemed to stretch up for forever, and then into an elevator with a plush red bench nobody sat on.

Konrad and Robin separated on Floor 78, and she and Rei headed up to 92, where Rei was taken left and her right.

She was apparently second to be styled, so she enjoyed three hours in a sitting room, ordering the tiniest foods on the menu and reading a romance novel that had been left on the coffee table, called _Love, Duty, and The End Of All We Knew._

It was about the ill fated Jhyr Ola and Whio Jinlr, two Capitol citizens who were deeply in love, but Whio died in the Second Rebellion, and Jhyr was launched into hysteria, which was actually probably accurate for Capitol citizens, and she eventually flung herself off the top of the building where they'd first met, was captured by evil rebels, tortured, and eventually publicly whipped and hung.

It was laughable. She took the book with her into the prep room, she wanted to bring it home if she came back so her family could laugh about it together.

Surely, the Second Rebellion had been nothing like that.

The next three hours, she was stripped of every hair she'd ever grown in any place other than her head, like a plucked wild turkey, and then showered in a special soap that made a concerning amount of skin come off, but as the prep team, consisting of Colbyx, a tall orange-skinned man with rainbow hair, Yil, a plump lady with normal skin but with metallic blue hair sticking out from her head in flat waves, and Puola, a woman with yellow skin and artificial bump patterns under her skin.

She hated them all.

The stylist was... okay, all things considered. Her name was Raelle, and while she was as disgustingly altered as her prep team, she produced a decent outfit, a dress with a pale green bodice and a skirt made of flowers, all in pastel shades, that accentuated her curves and yet made her seem taller, along with a matching flower crown and pale green veil.

However, she was exhausted after meeting with Raelle, and ended up falling asleep on the couch, watching Capitol anchors making bets about this year's victors.

"-Is the Canigula family's third child going to the Games. Isn't that just tragic, Flavius?"

That woke her right back up.

Rei, from the other side of the couch, glanced at her sympathetically, and though Christine knew the sympathy wouldn't last long, she smiled appreciatively.

"Yes, it's so dearly tragic, Elwin! The Canigula family first put forth a child in the 134th Games, Irene Canigula. Charming child of fifteen, but was ultimately taken down by Gil Wainright from District 4. And then, there was Charlie Canigula, and at her reaping, Christine risked punishment by breaking away from her parents and clinging to her older sister, begging for her not to go."

The camera cut away from Flavius and Elwin in favour of the footage from the reaping. There she was, twisting away from her parents and clinging to Char, being dragged away by Peacekeepers.

"Afterwards, Charlie tried to be strong for her sister, but ultimately perished. Such a tragedy."

 _Such a tragedy._ The phrase, spoken so uncaring and heartlessly and with that stupid high pitched Capitol accent, reverberated in her skull, and she didn't realise she was having a panic attack until she heard Rei shouting at her to breathe.

 _Breathe_. Nice, District 11 accent. Christine managed to calm down, and once she'd normalised her breathing, she curled in on herself and wished she'd just disappear. Way to make herself an easy target.

"You scared me there for a second," Rei commented in a small voice. "Try not to die before we get into the arena, okay? They might reap one of your siblings."

Christine nodded weakly, and Rei changed the channel. "Here, let's watch some overdramatic Capitolian drama, okay?"

Christine said nothing, but she grinned. That would be interesting, especially after a taste of Capitolian literature.

The drama didn't disappoint, and Christine found herself laughing almost constantly, and Rei laughed with her, because it was utterly ridiculous, all these stupid situations that the characters ended up in, the stupid drama. It was great.

"Look... we don't need to be enemies until the day before the arena, okay? Just... I know what it's like to be the oldest still at home, neglected emotionally, and I think you know that feeling too, okay?" Rei asked.

Christine nodded and smiled.

"Christine, Rei, get into your costumes, we'll be heading down to the chariot centre soon!" Yil cried, bursting into the sitting room.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here are all the tributes for the games, for (my) future reference when the other characters really start coming into play (next chapter-ish) also (probably) my last reference list, but these lists are to help y'all too, not just me.
> 
> girls are the first two names, boys the second, and industry is also listed.
> 
> District 1: (luxury)
> 
> Moonsparkle Kio
> 
> Una Jirad
> 
> Hefierr Olga
> 
> Jameson Werklat
> 
> District 2: (masonry)
> 
> Layla Zenzi
> 
> Henna Merchet
> 
> Alixandr Kilokar
> 
> Draxl Rin
> 
> District 3: (technology)
> 
> Chloe Valentine
> 
> Jenna Rolan
> 
> Nigel Roberts
> 
> John Valten 
> 
> District 4: (fishing)
> 
> Isla Undulli
> 
> Fjorda Olden
> 
> Reef Larsen
> 
> Calder Andersen
> 
> District 5: (power)
> 
> Mimi Ilgana
> 
> Renee Wel
> 
> Rich Goranski
> 
> Garad Untad
> 
> District 6: (transportation)
> 
> Mamie Memo
> 
> Jia Kirue
> 
> Jeremy Heere
> 
> Michael Mell
> 
> District 7: (lumber)
> 
> Kyla Delange
> 
> Jean Duntree
> 
> Jake Dillinger
> 
> Kenneth Durmonth
> 
> District 8: (textiles)
> 
> Brooke Lohst
> 
> Stephanie Levine
> 
> Jorge Northside
> 
> Kyr Ninlat
> 
> District 9: (grain)
> 
> Challah Levy
> 
> Abalone Cohen
> 
> Alfredo Roshal
> 
> Barley Eliad 
> 
> District 10 (livestock)
> 
> Wynr Bill
> 
> Ileza Harris
> 
> Vyctor Smith
> 
> Yce Morris
> 
> District 11 (agriculture)
> 
> Robin Telgemier
> 
> Rei Carroll
> 
> Christine Canigula
> 
> Konrad Briggs
> 
> District 12 (coal)
> 
> Jennifer Lena
> 
> Zinnia Hudson
> 
> David Lyaf
> 
> Gordon Mulaney
> 
> District 13 (granite)
> 
> Bijou Adri
> 
> Sapphira Isa
> 
> Garnet Carikk 
> 
> Topaz Reben


	3. three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christine dutifully headed back to the prep room after Rei had returned in a similar flower outfit, but with puffy flower pants under the bodic instead of a fitted skirt, and a different colour palette. Christine's was of pastel blues, pinks, and greens, and Rei's had pastel oranges, different pastel blues, and purples.

AndChristine dutifully headed back to the prep room after Rei had returned in a similar flower outfit, but with puffy flower pants under the bodic instead of a fitted skirt, and a different colour palette. Christine's was of pastel blues, pinks, and greens, and Rei's had pastel oranges, different pastel blues, and purples.

Christine was also given a good bit of makeup. Foundations, powders, contouring, brows, lids, cheeks, and lips, countless products. And when she finally saw what she looked like, it looked almost natural, too natural, in fact, for the amount of products and work that had gone into it.

There had been an instance where Colbyx had definitely drawn some sort of eyeliner, she was positive of it, but nothing was there.

Another thing that she was confused about, was Pauola drenching her in some invisible substance shaken from a pink can labelled in a language she didn't know. She definitely felt some sort of light powder sprinkling her skin, but couldn't make it out no matter how long she stared.

Maybe they were just toying with her with the powder stuff. That's kind of what the Capitol did, just on a larger scale.

After the makeup, she and Rei were escorted down to the ground floor. It was brightly lit, with white light rods someone called 'fluorescent' on the ceiling, white walls, and shimmering white linoleum floor, just like in the sitting room.

The only thing that added colour to the room were the chariots, already hitched to their horses, were being loaded with tributes. They were different chariots than the ones used in the past years, with a front area and a back area. Plus, usually, the District 11 chariot was green, but this year, it was a shimmering white, with pointed tips fading into curving silver ornaments with hints of rainbow colours among them.

Robin and Konrad finally arrived, decked out in plants that shimmered in the bright fluorescent lights, contrasting to the flowers the girls wore. The prep team showered them in the stuff from the pink can, then got them situated on the chariot, before turning to the girls.

Their setup required a bit more work, since the veils that they'd tried on had apparently been discarded last-minute for longer ones that had to also be sprinkled with the contents of the pink can and then attached to their flower headdresses, and then another last minute addition in the form of long flower capes that matched the rest of their respective outfits, capes so long that they were draped over the back of the chariot together and hovered just barely above the ground, but finally, the chariot doors were slammed shut, good lucks were said, and then Christine could see the District 1 chariot already pulling out, already met with cheers.

The line moved fairly quickly, and soon, the white horses pulled them away from the brightly lit loading area and onto the road, smoothly paved paved with golden flecks, as always.

Their entrance did give off a large cheer, so large that Christine was surprised, usually, the Eleveners got a decent response, but not too large. They were a poor district that happened to have an industry that they could make a fairly good outfit out of. She always felt bad for the tributes of 7, 10, 12, and 13.

In her curiosity, she looked up to one of the giant screens hovering above them.

Two thousand miles away, in District 11, Juliana Canigula gasped, clasped a hand over her mouth, and began to cry as she sunk down to the dirt floor.

Will Canigula tried to support her, but he, too, was crying.

Juliana let out a large sob as she hit the floor in a squat position, and then went from a squat to a kneel, her tears making tiny dots of mud.

Juliana wasn't crying because Christine was beautiful. Juliana cried because Christine was really, truly, in the Capitol, really, truly, being prepared for death.

Marie and Yolanda couldn't bear to look away from the screen as their mother collapsed, holding onto each other as tightly as they could. It was terrible, seeing their third sister in a chariot, but it was that, or confront their feelings of utter defeat and hopelessness.

Samuel just wanted to know - where was Christine, and why didn't he see her again after the Reaping, and why did everyone cry on the way home?

Piper, too young to comprehend what was going on, sucked on her pinkie finger. She was grouchy and wanted milk, milk nobody could give her right now. When she was older, her family would tell her about her older sister Christine, the one who died in the One Hundred Fiftieth Hunger Games.

And after telling her of the reaping, they'd tell her of the chariot ride to President Maver's house, where her sister literally glowed pink, then blue, then green, then silver, then pink again.

Because oh, the stuff they'd so religiously sprinkled everywhere made Christine literally look like she was changing colours, all but her face, for the most part, which only had hints of the colour changing - matching lipstick and thick, winged eyeliner, a small bit of sparkle under her eyes, just enough so her face didn't look entirely out of place, and little enough so that she'd be recognised in the arena.

Her flower dress and veil also participated, the flowers swapping colours in a cycle the same as her body, which was that if she even moved a centimetre, or wind blew or someone cheered, the colours changed. Thusly, Christine found herself with quite a bit of colour, and sometimes, it changed so fast, she seemed to be of every colour and yet none at all. Just a shimmering, pastel star in the wind. Rei, on her side of the bleachers, received the same attention.

The boys, standing in front of them, glowed a bit differently, with different colours and more white than silver, and their plants changed. One instant, they were adorned with long vines, the next, a soft, yellow meadow.

They were an absolute hit.

When they pulled up to President Maver's house and she began reading the Treaty, Christine glanced around at the other tributes. Twelve and Thirteen, who were behind them, were wearing frilly miner's outfits and standing in District Thirteen-shaped blocks of pink granite that sparkled dully in the light.

The tributes from One, Two, and Five were obviously fabulous, and as she looked around, the only other chariots that caught her eyes were the chariots from Three, Six, and Eight.

District Three, technology, were decked out entirely in circuits and mechanism, certain pieces lighting up periodically, along with tall, matching headdresses, complete with sparkling stray wires.

The pair of girls that'd been holding hands at the District Three reaping, Chloe and Jenna, she thought their names were, were still holding hands, looking absolutely resplendent. Chloe even had glittering wires threaded into her hair.

District Six, with their chariot in the shape of a glowing subway car like they had here in the Capitol, had a pair of boys in the front, Michael and... Jerry? Jason? Whatever their names, they were decked out in long shirts and pants with patterns of trains, bikes, subway cars, wagons, and regular cars, all of which did not move. They looked embarrased, and positively miserable. It was worse than Twelve and Thirteen.

District Eight, textiles, had an uninteresting pair of boys, a tall redheaded girl, and a shorter girl, with thin, floaty blonde hair and green eyes. She seemed apart from the others, a bit more pure, yet definitely looking like she was from District Eight.

In other words, she was absolutely beautiful, and Christine wanted to talk to her, hold her hand, lean in close and-

Nope. That girl would be her enemy in the arena, she needed to get her mind out of the gutter and focus on the task at hand.

President Maver finally finished her speech, and the anthem began, and Christine saw every single tribute, most of them miserable in their own way.

How was Christine miserable?

She was too pretty. She caught too much attention, and now, she'd be an instant target for the Careers.

She stood out for the sponsors, but singled herself out for death.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof


End file.
